A few weeks ago, we started a new series called the seven deadly sins. Those sins are: pride, envy, greed, wrath, gluttony, sloth and lust. In our previous discussions, we mentioned that although the concept of the seven deadly sins is not Biblical per se, some scholars have said that the principle has a Biblical derivative, specifically Proverbs 6:16-19 and Galatians 5:19-21:

16 There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community, (Proverbs 6:16-19, NIV).

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19:21, NIV).

So far, we have talked about pride and greed. Today we will talk about envy!

Previously, we mentioned that pride was the original sin that caused man to fall. If I were to rank the seven deadly sins in order of egregiousness, I would say that pride would be a first place contender, and envy would be a close runner up. Of the seven deadly sins, I believe that these two are the most vile of them all. I would even argue that pride and envy are what I would call gateway sins. When they take root in our lives, they open the gates for other sins. Let’s take a look at James 4:1-4 to illustrate this point.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”

James 4:1-4, NIV

So, in James 4:1, the Bible says that our desires that battle inside us is what causes us to quarrel and fight. That is pride and envy 101. It was pride and envy that caused Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Their pride told them that they were entitled to God’s knowledge. Their envy made them begrudge the fact that God possessed the knowledge that they thought they deserved.

Now, here is why I call pride and envy the gateway sin. James 4:2 says, “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.” Remember pride makes us feel entitled and envy makes us think we should have the product of our entitlement. So what happens when someone has what we think we should have? We become envious and that envy could lead to rape, murder, adultery, lying, greed, and any other vice we could think of. Let’s look at some practical applications. For example, a man cheat on his wife with another man’s wife. Why? Somehow, deep down inside, he has reasoned that he is entitled to the value that other man’s wife brings to her husband. The man who is doing the cheating might have reasoned that he deserved to be respected, loved and honored. Since he is envious of his perception of the other man’s wife’s values, he “steals” her from the other man. His pride has told him that he is entitled, and his envy has precipitated his adultery, lying and stealing, and in some cases, killing.

Let’s use another example. A woman shoplifts from a department store. Why? Somewhere in her mind, she has determined that she is entitled to the items she has stolen. She is also envious that the store owners/stock holders have move than she does. Most of the time when we listen to the excuses of people who shoplift, they say things like: “They have enough stuff;” “They’ll never miss this;” or some variation of “I should have this stuff too.” This is jealousy and pride. That jealously and pride have caused them to resort to lying and stealing. First, the individual in our shoplifting scenario has lied to herself in an effort to convince herself that she deserve someone’s miracle/destiny/blessings. Second, she has lied to herself by trying to convince herself that she is not hurting anyone. Lastly, she will have to lie to avoid getting caught.

The problem with envy and pride is not that they are inherently bad, even though they are. The problem is that they set us up for failure each and every time. It is impossible for us to have someone else’s blessings because that blessing was custom fitted for that individual. You see, God knows each and every one of us inside out. Just as no two people have the same fingerprints, no two people have the same spiritual DNA. When God considered our blessings, He considered our gender, our race, our backgrounds, our personalities, our idiosyncrasies, our level of faith (or lack thereof), our maturity and so much more. It is IMPOSSIBLE that any another person on the planet would align with us on ALL of those thousands, maybe even millions, of variables. We could save ourselves a tremendous amount of heartache and pain if we understood that no matter how much we envied someone, we could never have what they have. Their blessing weren’t made for us. The other thing is this. We do not know how much time, effort and prayer someone has put into their blessings. The problem with many of us is we think that our story ends when God grants us our blessings. Friends, in many cases, this is just the beginning. God has an expectation that we will take care of what He has given us. Let’s use another example. We might look at our neighbor and say, “Wow, they have such good, accomplished children. I wish mine were like theirs.” The problem is we don’t know how they got to that point. How many days did that mother fast for her children? How many nights did that father pray for their success? What about their ancestors? Imagine how they could have prayed and planted seeds. They truth is we just never know what people’s true circumstances are.

The final point I would like to bring home is this: James 4: 2-3 says we have not because we ask not. It also says that sometimes the reason that we do not have is because we ask for the wrong reasons. Friends, if God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (p.s. He owns the hills too), why aren’t we asking Him for everything. No matter how small our requests, we should bring them to God. If we do not get the answer we desire, we should not automatically think that we are asking with wrong motives. Instead, we should ask God to check our heart and purify our desires. If we have done a heart check with God and we still find ourselves with the same desire, then the answer is simple. We have to wait and trust that His timing is perfect. We have to know that though others might appear to be experiencing their Jordans, their timing is not ours. We have to trust that God knows what we need and will come through when we need it.

God,

My prayer for today is that you settle the hearts of your people. Grant us your peace that surpasses all understanding. Thwart in us any temptation for pride and envy. Allow us to know that you have custom-fitted blessing designed specifically for each and every single one of us that will be revealed at just the right time. I pray blessings over all your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen!